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Framework · About an hour to adapt

The Five-Phase Framework, a working template

Discover, Design, Build, Deliver, Measure — the version I run actual engagements on, with the questions I refuse to skip at each gate.

Methodology Project kickoff Action mapping

What this is

The cut of the framework I actually use on retail, customer service, and manufacturing engagements — the methodology behind every case study on this site. A blend of action mapping, ADDIE’s discipline, and the habits of running small L&D functions where one person owns the whole loop.

What’s inside

  • Discover — the sponsor questions I won’t start without, plus the SME action-mapping script for kickoff.
  • Design — the modality decision tree (Rise / Storyline / code / blended / job aid), plus scenario and assessment starter structures.
  • Build — the pre-build / build / polish cadence, including what AI can scaffold and what it can’t.
  • Deliver — launch comms templates, manager one-pagers, pilot readout format.
  • Measure — the Kirkpatrick L1–L4 canvas mapped to xAPI statements, with the heuristic for when L3/L4 is actually attributable.

What “Measure” buys a sponsor

The phase most frameworks wave at and most programs skip. Build the experience to emit xAPI and every meaningful action becomes a record — which turns evaluation from a survey you send later into a signal you watch live: behavior (L3) instead of completion, a manager view that flags who’s struggling with which skill in time to coach, and open-text answers a model can read to hand back a follow-up plan.

How to use it

Print the PDF. Take it into a kickoff. Cross out what doesn’t apply and write in what does. The framework isn’t precious — the point is to make every phase a conscious choice, especially the evaluation one.

Who each piece is for

Senior IDs and L&D leaders get a repeatable way to defend design decisions to sponsors, SMEs, and their own future selves. Sponsors get a map of what to expect at each gate — and the questions to ask so the program comes back with proof of behavior change, not a completion percentage.

The Practice Room and manager dashboard show the Measure end of this framework working end to end.

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